Higher Education Fund Raising: What is the President to Do?

Abstract

Reductions in state and federal allocations to higher education are requiring colleges and universities to seek alternative sources of funding, and higher education institutions are becoming progressively more involved in fund raising. This increased dependence on private sources of funding emphasizes the need for more in-depth studies of higher education fund raising, particularly for additional information regarding the function of the president in the fund-raising process. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the function of presidents in the fund-raising process within higher education. The study focuses on the president and the chief development officer in public four-year institutions within the state of Texas with capital campaigns less than $100m. The study uses a multiple case design, allowing the researcher to examine subjects in a real-life setting and, consequently, to identify specific themes relating to a phenomenon. The themes that emerged in the analysis of data related to six specific presidential behaviors within the broad context of fund raising: (1) strategic planning, (2) coordinating external stakeholders, (3) building teams, (4) coordinating internal stakeholders, (5) directing the fund-raising process, and (6) allocating resources to achieve fund-raising goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]